SEC Filings

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The 1992 Cable Act made several changes to the renewal process which could
make it easier for a franchising authority to deny renewal. Moreover, even if
the franchise is renewed, the franchising authority may seek to impose new and
more onerous requirements such as significant upgrades in facilities and
services or increased franchise fees as a condition of renewal. Similarly, if
a franchising authority's consent is required for the purchase or sale of a
cable system or franchise, such authority may attempt to impose more
burdensome or onerous franchise requirements in connection with a request for
such consent. Historically, franchises have been renewed for cable operators
that have provided satisfactory services and have complied with the terms of
their franchises. Most of the Company's franchises can be terminated prior to
their stated expirations for uncured breaches of material provisions.
Various courts have considered whether franchising authorities have the
legal right to limit franchise awards to a single cable operator and to impose
certain substantive franchise requirements (i.e., access channels, universal
service and other technical requirements). These decisions have been somewhat
inconsistent and, until the U.S. Supreme Court rules definitively on the scope
of cable operators' First Amendment protections, the legality of the
franchising process generally and of various specific franchise requirements
is likely to be in a state of flux.
Ownership Limitations
Pursuant to the 1992 Cable Act, the FCC adopted rules prescribing national
customer limits and limits on the number of channels that can be occupied on a
cable system by a video programmer in which the cable operator has an
attributable interest. The FCC's horizontal ownership limits have been stayed
because a federal district court found the statutory limitation to be
unconstitutional. An appeal of that decision is pending and has been
consolidated with an appeal of the FCC's regulations which implemented the
national customer and channel limitation provisions of the 1992 Cable Act. The
1996 Telecom Act eliminates the statutory prohibition on the common ownership,
operation or control of a cable system and a television broadcast station in
the same service area and directs the FCC to eliminate its regulatory
restrictions on cross-ownership of cable systems and national broadcasting
networks and to review its broadcast-cable ownership restrictions to determine
if they are necessary in the public interest. Pursuant to the mandate of the
1996 Telecom Act, the FCC eliminated its regulatory restriction on cross-
ownership of cable systems and national broadcasting networks. In March 1998,
the FCC initiated a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether the cable
television/broadcast cross-ownership ban is necessary and in the public
interest or should be eliminated.
Telephone Company Ownership of Cable Systems
The 1996 Telecom Act makes far-reaching changes in the regulation of
telephone companies that provide video programming services. The new law
eliminates federal legal barriers to competition in the local telephone and
cable communications businesses, preempts legal barriers to competition that
previously existed in state and local laws and regulation and sets basic
standards for relationships between telecommunications providers. The 1996
Telecom Act eliminates the requirement that LECs obtain FCC approval under
Section 214 of the Communications Act before providing video services in their
telephone service areas and removes the statutory telephone company/cable
television cross-ownership prohibition, thereby allowing LECs to offer video
services in their telephone service areas. LECs may provide service as
traditional cable operators with local franchises or they may opt to provide
their programming over unfranchised "open video systems," subject to certain
conditions, including, but not limited to, setting aside a portion of their
channel capacity for use by unaffiliated program distributors on a non-
discriminatory basis.
The 1996 Telecom Act generally limits acquisitions and prohibits certain
joint ventures between LECs and cable operators in the same market. There are
some statutory exceptions to the buy-out and joint venture prohibitions,
including exceptions for certain small cable systems (as defined by federal
law) and for cable
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